"Good that Nepal is choosing a leader," says former Indian Ambassador to Nepal

Kathmandu [Nepal], September 13 (ANI): Manjeev Puri, former Indian Ambassador to Nepal on Friday hailed the leadership of Sushila Karki, Nepal's former chief justice as the head of the interim government of Nepal.

Puri, while talking to ANI, said that although Karki's appointment was an unprecedented one, it was a good step forward.

"Sushila Karthi is taking oath. It's complicated. Do you know any constitution in the world which says that I can self-efface myself. It doesn't happen. So, you know, there are this particular element. This is a kind of negotiation, but I'm glad that they are choosing a leader. They're choosing somebody to lead the country because you can't have a political vacuum," he said.

Puri said that Karki's appointment was a good choice, as she has a history of fighting corruption in her tenure.

"Sushila Karki is a former Chief Justice. She has a reputation as being a straight individual, somebody who's fought against corruption, given many human rights answers, et cetera. She's also a senior person. She has formerly studied at BHU. So when you see all this, you hope that you're starting to rebuild in that sense, fill in the vacuum. Also, I'm glad that the president, Ram Chandra Poudelji, who is a senior politician, has come back into the scene. It's, in a sense, anchoring the negotiations, et cetera," he said.

Puri said that the army was surely backing this solution, and once a nation has a Prime Minister, the country can take things forward.

"I'm sure the army chief is providing background backing at all of this. Let's take this forward. Once you have a prime minister, the person is there in a de jure position and can take things forward. I see this as a positive step and a welcome," he said.

Puri said that Karki would now have to constitute a group of ministers, and there will be negotiations between the GenZ leaders and older political parties.

"She has to start filling in the vacuum. In any country, Nepal is not a very tiny country. Just the prime minister is not enough. She has to constitute a group of people who will be ministers. This will be a certain amount of negotiations. While we are only talking about the Gen Z leaders and so on, the fact is the older political parties haven't disappeared. Neither are the leaders. In fact, you see them making statements, etc," he said.

Puri said that Nepal has witnessed political instability for several years, and they will surely be able to find a way out through this crisis too.

"So some kind of inclusive politics, but taking into account what has happened over the past few days will have to be done. This is itself a ticklish kind of issue, but one which I'm sure they'll be able to resolve. Nepal has seen political instability for many years in the past. This is of course a totally different order of that. But you know, they are also a resilient not just society, but in terms of politics, they know the art of compromise and the art of getting the deal done as they say. So that's the first priority. Then of course, you have major issues. The buildings, the property, etc," he said.

Sushila Karki, Nepal's former chief justice, on Friday took oath as the country's interim Prime Minister, becoming the first woman to hold the top position in the Himalayan nation. (ANI)

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